Tag Archives: selection

BALANCE AT WORK BLOG

One of the constants in running a business is the challenge of attracting and retaining high quality staff.

We have seen businesses opting to improve productivity among existing staff and control their recruitment budgets since the GFC hit Australia. At the same time, unemployment is staying low and the number of jobs advertised is slowly rising.

A recent report by Hudson found that around 44% of employers still find it hard to source candidates with appropriate skills. The war for talent continues!

Add to this the estimated cost of losing an employee at 70-150% of their salary and you can see why it’s vital to get the right person the first time.

What can you do to win in a talent war?

1. Upskill existing staff.

Or hire for attitude and train for skill.

2. Only use advertising that attracts the best people.

Include role and salary details, company name and location, benefits (including training). Tell what it’s like to work for your company and why they should want to work for you.

3. Follow a transparent and structured process.

Candidates will recognise your level of honesty, fairness, consistency and flexibility in the recruitment process. Delivering in these areas will help you stand out from your competitors for limited talent.

4. Use a variety of sources of information.

Combine different ways of assessing candidates to ensure you get all the information you need to make your decision. Take the time to introduce them to the team or involve a peer in the interview process to confirm cultural fit.

5. Get help.

Unless this is something you do every day consider getting help form a recruitment consultant who knows your industry. A good consultant can quickly identify ways to inprove your skills shortage strategy.

BALANCE AT WORK BLOG

A comment by a client yesterday started me thinking about our willingness to settle for less than ideal when we could be seeking the best.

With a little extra effort when recruiting staff, your business results can be ‘really something’ rather than ‘better than nothing’.

First, some research on recruitment in small to medium enterprises…

The SME Boardroom White Paper released last week showed that the primary method for recruitment, used by 71.9% of SMEs, is to advertise the position themselves. Other sources of new recruits are business and personal referrals (57.8%) and staff referrals (40.6%). What’s your method of choice?

Also contained in the White Paper is information about what SMEs look for when recruiting. The main thing is attitude (78% of respondents). Cultural fit (39.1%) and technical skills (34.4%) are also important. The survey didn’t ask how SMEs assess these requirements.

If you advertise directly and recruit for attitude, you will need a process that is efficient and effective. Here’s a short summary of the steps you’ll need to take before you can make an offer to the new recruit you’re looking for:

Define the role – job description, including talks and responsibilities

BALANCE AT WORK BLOG

…and retention.

Warning: What you are about to read is so obvious you’ll wonder why you haven’t already used it in selection and performance management!

Enjoyment Performance Theory states that an individual will perform more effectively in a job if that individual:

1. Enjoys the tasks required by that job;

2. Has interests that relate to the position and

3. Has work environment preferences that correspond with the environment of the workplace.

Assuming a person has the skills and experience necessary for the job, enjoyment of the various aspects of the job is a significant predictor of higher performance.

Because we tend to do the things that bring us pleasure and avoid things we don’t enjoy, we tend to do the things we like more often. As we do those activities more often, we get better at them and our improved performance adds to our enjoyment of the task. A virtuous cycle, if you like.

Conversely, because we will be less inclined to do something we don’t enjoy, we fail to improve in that task and the lower performance reinforces our dislike of the activity – a vicious cycle.

Harrison Assessments’ 20 years of research has proven that employees who enjoy at least 75% or more of their job are three times more likely to succeed than employees who enjoy less than 75% of their job. That makes understanding factors related to work satisfaction vitally important for making the right hiring decisions, motivating employees, and retaining top talent.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

So how do you apply the theory to your team?

Surprisingly, very few behavioural assessments or personality assessments measure work satisfaction, even though it is critically important to do so. As a result, assessments are limited in their ability to determine motivation or forecast whether an individual will prosper and stay with the company.

The Harrison Assessment questionnaire is designed to predict performance, work satisfaction and retention. This is critical when selecting new staff and also enables companies to motivate people and increase their performance by assigning the roles and responsibilities that give them the highest degree of work satisfaction.

To find out more about what we can do for you with Harrison Assessments, visit our website or contact us!

"The last couple of years at batyr has seen incredible growth and the Balance at Work team has supported us along the way. They have helped us improve leadership skills across the team by helping us source and manage mentors, and even engaging as mentors themselves. As a young and fresh CEO Susan has also supported me personally with genuine feedback and fearless advice to achieve great things.
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By Sam Refshauge, CEO, batyr

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